


hollow vengeance

by Idhren15



Series: Linked Universe Collection [3]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Blood, Death, Fatal Injury, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Hyrule (Linked Universe)-centric, Inspired by Art, Lies, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Regret, Stabbing, Violence, no happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:08:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27605357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Idhren15/pseuds/Idhren15
Summary: All his life, Link has held resentment for the hero that came before him. The hero who, they say, fell to insanity, and the world fell with him.The hero of Legend, who was responsible for the mess of Hyrule that Link had to save.The hero of Legend, who was now standing directly in front of him.
Relationships: Hyrule & Legend (Linked Universe)
Series: Linked Universe Collection [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1940221
Comments: 24
Kudos: 106





	hollow vengeance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sky_squido](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sky_squido/gifts).



> I rarely look at tumblr, but I happened to scroll through the Linked Universe tag and stumbled across this beautiful angsty artwork by sky_squido, which you can find [here! ](https://squidos-goodies.tumblr.com/post/634959261627203584/im-not-dead-d-legend-on-the-other-hand-well-i#_=_)  
> And I was so inspired by it that I just had to write something... so, here we go. 
> 
> I've taken a few creative liberties and expanded on her concept. Credit for this idea goes to sky_squido (please check out her fics & art they are amazing!)

All his life, Link has held resentment for the hero that came before him. The hero who, they say, fell to insanity, and the world fell with him.

The hero of Legend, who was responsible for the mess of Hyrule that Link had to save.

The hero of Legend, who was now standing directly in front of him.

He'd almost sounded _proud_ of his title, announcing it with a loud confidence that none of the others matched. Link - or Hyrule, as he'd now been dubbed - couldn't see any signs of the madness that had supposedly consumed this hero, but he figured it probably hadn't come yet.

As he sat on the outskirts of the camp, not wanting to interact with the other heroes, Hyrule realised that maybe, he could fix things. Maybe, he could save the kingdom by stopping it from falling into ruin in the first place. After all, Legend only seemed to speak positive of his home, of the improvements they were making after the hero before _him_ failed, too.

But Hyrule wouldn't blame Time - from the little he'd heard, in their timeline, he'd only been young when he fell to Ganon - and after all, Time had been _defeated_ in a horrific battle. But Legend? Oh, the hero of Legend had multiple adventures and victories but he still brought the world to its knees anyway. All his experience, all his successes, and he still left everything in ruins.

If Hyrule could stop Legend - maybe, _maybe_ he could fix his time and finally have peace…

And he wasn't one for revenge, but after all the pain he'd been through… well, he wouldn't deny that he wanted to destroy the cause of his suffering.

He just had to wait for the perfect moment.

Hyrule settled into a steady rhythm with the other heroes, of changing worlds, fighting monsters, resting a short while, before the cycle repeated. Everyone had their secrets - he was no exception - but at least that made it easier to hide. Still, he was worried that Legend would figure out their connection. Time had already established that Twilight was his successor, and Sky figured out he was the first of them, having never fought Ganon. Hyrule avoided talking about his home as much as possible, but he knew it was only a matter of time before they end up switching there, or Legend made the connection.

He had to take action before this could happen.

Because if Legend started to see him as a protégé… Hyrule didn't know if he'd have the strength to do what had to be done. Already, he found himself warming to the hero, before reminding himself of what a crazy _monster_ the hero of Legend would become.

And he dealt with monsters all the time, that was his job, his role as hero.

He had to go through with this soon, before he faltered.

Thankfully, fate was on his side for once, and despite Time's best efforts they were all separated after switching worlds. Hyrule regained his senses in time to avoid a blow from a very large moblin wielding a club that was bigger than Hyrule himself.

"Look out!" Legend yelled, slicing through a moblin's leg. Black blood oozed from the wound, and Hyrule quickly scrambled to his feet and raised his own sword, attacking the moblin who'd almost felled him seconds before. The fight was fast and messy, and Hyrule lost his sword at one point, but Legend was faster, tossing Hyrule his own blade without hesitation.

Hyrule stabbed his last moblin with Legend's sword, watching as the hero used a fire rod to take out the rest of them.

"We did it!" Legend grinned, his eyes bright and full of relief as he ran towards Hyrule.

Time slowed down for the younger hero, and he looked at the grin and saw madness, stared into the bright eyes and saw the monster responsible for the destruction of his world.

Legend opened his arms for an embrace, and Hyrule ran him through with the hero's own sword.

For a brief moment he wondered _what has he done_ , before resolve set in, his expression hardened and he drove the blade in further. Legend gasped and coughed, his blood splattering on Hyrule's tunic as he fell towards him.

"Wh-why?" he choked out, "'Rule…"

Hyrule stepped back, causing Legend to fall to his knees, the sword still embedded in his gut. Crimson gushed from the wound, darkening his clothes, and Hyrule watched as Legend's breaths grew weaker, blood trickling over his lips.

"I… I don'…"

His broken words were interrupted by a cough so forceful he pitched over, collapsing onto his side. Hyrule stood there still, as the light faded from his enemy's eyes, expecting to feel some sort of satisfaction, a release of his revenge, but he felt nothing.

"M' sorry," Legend whispered.

Then his eyes rolled back and his body fell completely limp.

Blood continued to soak the ground, but Hyrule knew it would stop soon. He pulled the sword from the corpse and wiped it on the grass, before tossing it just out of reach of the left hand. Then he took a sword from one of the fallen moblins and raised it, preparing to plunge it into the wound and fake the blame.

But for a moment he hesitated, the back of his left hand burning, his fingers itching to pull the red potions from his pack, to use magic to heal the wound, he was dead but only just, there was still time -

_No_ , Hyrule thought sternly, and stabbed the moblin's sword in before walking away from the corpse. His heart was still pounding with adrenaline, and he waited to feel something more, now it was _really_ over, but there was nothing except a slight bitter sting.

He was on his knees when the other heroes finally found them, staring at the blood on his hands, still expecting to feel something more than the ache in his muscles and the sting of the few grazes he hadn't noticed.

"Rule!" Wind yelled, running over to him, "You're bleeding - where are you hurt-"

Wind was cut off as someone screamed, and Hyrule raised his head enough to see Warriors collapse on his knees beside the corpse. Twilight knelt down as well, pulling potions from his bag, but Hyrule was confident that nothing could bring the fallen hero back to life, not now. Too much time had passed.

Four stood frozen, silent tears streaming down his face, and Sky held Wild as they both sobbed. Time came over to Hyrule and Wind, his expression pained.

"What happened?" he asked gently.

_I killed him. I killed him, because of all he did to my world, and now I don't know how to feel. I should be relieved, perhaps… thankful… but I'm not. I don't feel right._

"Ambush," was all he managed to say, and gestured at the bodies of the moblins.

"Are you hurt?" Time asked, and Hyrule shook his head, suddenly aware that tears were falling down his face, too. But why? He wasn't grieving, he had been planning this since he first saw the hero of Legend - he must just be upset that he'd caused the others so much pain and heartbreak. They'd been deceived into thinking Legend was a nice person, that he was anything other than destructive and insane.

Legend deserved his fate… _but why did he feel so wrong?_

For the weeks that followed, everyone gave Hyrule sympathy and comfort, assuming his silence was grief. But it wasn't, not at all. He did not grieve for someone who was never a friend.

No, he had begun to feel _guilty_.

He had lied, because he couldn't tell them the truth - how could he? How could he stand there, in front of all those heroes, and confess that he was a murderer? And he shouldn't feel guilty but _somehow_ he did. Every time he closed his eyes he could see Legend's face, the look of utter betrayal as he fell to the ground, the light fading from his eyes as he died - over and over and over, plaguing Hyrule's mind as he slept - then the memories began seeping into his conscious thoughts. When he glanced over at Warriors, wearing his blue hat as he mourned his closest friend. When he thought he saw a dark red tunic, but blinked and it was only Wild, wearing a cloak of that colour. When he watched Four polish the sword that had done the deed, knowing that if the smithy knew what the weapon had done, he would not treat it with such care.

It weighed on him, this darkness, this guilt, and after waking up from yet another nightmare, he had the strong desire to confess to someone.

Sky was on watch, and immediately glanced his way when he noticed Hyrule get up and pace about the camp.

"'Rule? Are you alright?" Sky asked, walking over to him.

"I did it," Hyrule blurted out, "It wasn't the moblin, it was me."

Sky frowned. "You… did what?"

"I killed him."

Sky shook his head, realisation crossing his face. "No, 'Rule, you didn't kill him. Legend-" he stumbled over the name, then tried again, "Legend's death wasn't your fault."

Hyrule laughed, an empty, broken sound, and shook his head.

"No, Sky, you're not listening. I had his sword and I ran him through - and then, I took the moblin's blade and I made it look like it was them, and I lied to you all, but it was _me_ , I killed him - I didn't even try to heal him, I stood there and watched as he died -" he broke off into sobs, his body shaking as he tried to get a hold of himself.

"That… that was just a bad dream," Sky said, sounding less certain.

"IT WAS ME!" Hyrule screamed, "I KILLED LEGEND!"

A deathly silence descended upon the camp, and Sky stared at him in horror as the others began to stir after his sudden outburst.

"What?" Warriors whispered hoarsely, "You… Hyrule - _you_ killed…?"

Hyrule - no, just _Link_ , he wasn't worthy of a hero title - turned and ran, tears blinding his vision, away from their horrified gazes, away from the heroes he'd brought shame to, away, away, away. This wasn't his Hyrule, wasn't his kingdom, and he soon was lost, but kept running through unfamiliar forests.

"Let me go home!" he screamed, "I want to go home, I- I have to-"

_I have to know if this was worth it!_

Someone must've been listening to his prayers, and a portal opened before him, swirling black and reeking of dark magic but he didn't care, he ran straight through.

And when his vision returned, he found himself staring at a land identical to what he'd left.

"No," Link breathed, "No, no - _no_ something must've changed, it has to-"

The portal had deposited him near the castle, so he ran there, his heart pounding in time with his footsteps. He raced past everyone, ignoring the surprised and angry cries, not stopping until he'd reached the library. The scrolls - there was a scroll somewhere, about the fate of the hero of Legend -

Link found it, and almost tore the paper in his desperation to read. The words were so familiar, they were what had fueled his desire for revenge -

_and the hero of Legend disappeared, thought to have succumbed to his madness and run away…_

He carried on reading, then looked back over the first section.

_Thought to have-_

_**Thought** to have-_

"Oh, goddess," he choked out, "Oh, goddess, _no_ -" 

The fate of the hero of Legend was only _speculated_ \- everyone thought he had turned insane, had left the land to ruin - but he just went missing on yet another quest and never returned, because…. because -

"Oh goddess," Link cried, collapsed on his knees, "I… I did this - I did this I _killed_ him, I- I did this I ruined it _it's my fault_ -"

Ugly tears streamed down his face and he sobbed, the weight of the guilt in his chest far too much to bear and he finally _shattered_.

Legend wasn't to blame, all this time - it was _him_.

 _He_ made it so the hero never returned, by running his sword through him. _He_ ruined his own land, all in an attempt to fix it.

He, the hero, turned into a murderer, all in the name of vengeance - when really, the person to exact his revenge upon was none but himself.

Legend was dead - his _friend_ was dead - and it was all for nothing.

**Author's Note:**

> this was actually my first time writing MCD... I love angst but normally give the boys happy endings... not today. 
> 
> I should probably write some Legend & Hyrule fluff to make up for this. Someday. 
> 
> Anyways if you enjoyed this fic PLEASE look at the art that inspired it!! and thank you for reading!
> 
> also, [I tumble now.](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/idhrencookieelf)


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